Ten knots boat speed this afternoon and 1230 miles from the finish, heading just north of east, things are definitely looking altogether rosier for Rich Wilson on Great American III.

He is not out of the woods yet, and is into that nervous stage of care and consolidation whilst trying to make the best speed for the finish, but the American skipper should reach Les Sables d’Olonne Sunday or Monday and should be accorded a huge welcome.

Wilson has made 221 miles in the last 24 hours, mostly towards the target.

Meantime Raphael Dinelli is making slow but steady progress in his compromised state on Fondation Océan Vital. The Sablais skipper is making between 4.5 and six knots as has 1700 or so miles to reach his home port.

And Norbert Sedlacek is as good as his word, knocking in 200 plus mile days in the NE’ly trades on Nauticsport-Kapsch and he is due to finish around the 15th or 16th March..

Rich Wilson reported this morning:

“ Last night we sailed with solent and 2 reefs in the  mainsail, and we were going fast, averaging 12.5 knots, in the middle of  the night, it seemed as if things were getting a bit more activfe, and I  went to the 3rd reef, and just when I was doing it, it got really windy, so  when I finished there, I rolled up the solent and rolled out the staysail.

I didn't understand what was going on, so when it got even more active,  i.e., the boat taking off on 18 knot surfs, i rolled the staysail  back up  and just went with the 3rd reef in the main, fired up the computer, to look  at the weather situation to try to understand what was going on. What had  happened was immediately apparent, we were making such good time, that we  had sailed across the top of the curved isobars, had caught up with the northwesterlies, and were getting a heading wind shift which would make the

boat go faster from its deep broad reaching. Once we slowed a bit, in a few  hours, we settled back into the top part of the high. I, however, was so  tired that I just fell hard asleep at the chart table, and every time i woke up, i thought about rolling out the staysail, but found some reason  that it would be better to wait, for daylight, for another weather

forecast, for the seas to go down, for the wind to go down, any reason at all. Finally did roll out the staysqil, then we got lifted a bit, which  suggested the whole system was moving, and so we gybed to get closer to course, and to get hopefully headed down to the course.”